Combination bill accepting and bill dispensing device

ABSTRACT

A device for processing accepted banknotes uses a processing junction with banknote accumulators arranged on either side thereof and a banknote vault or stacker located at one end of the processing junction. A banknote dispensing outlet is associated with the banknote accumulators for receiving previously accumulated banknotes which are dispensed through the outlet.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The invention relates to devices for accepting of bills andaccumulating bills in a manner to allow dispensing of selected bills.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] There are known validators devices for bills or other paper meansof payment which devices store the accepted bills in a removablecassette or process accepted bills for temporary storage and subsequentdispensing. It is desirable to store as many bills as possible in astorage arrangement for subsequent dispensing. The stored bills are allof the same value and are typically wound on a drum in a serial manner.This serial manner accommodates dispensing of bills, one bill at a time.

[0003] It is desirable to make these devices as adaptable for differentcurrencies as possible. This general adaptation of the device is mademore difficult due to different sizes of banknotes from currency tocurrency and from denomination to denomination.

[0004] The present invention enables bills of different values and sizeto be accepted and appropriately processed. The arrangement has thecapability of storing for subsequent dispensing, two different banknotedenominations. In addition, the device has a stacking cassette forreceiving and storing of bills that are not to be subsequentlydispensed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The present invention includes a drive arrangement in combinationwith a processing junction for moving banknotes through said processingjunction from an inlet to one of at least two outlets. The processingjunction includes an inlet sized to longitudinally receive a banknotethrough said inlet and into said processing junction and at least afirst and second outlet for passing a received banknote out of theprocessing junction. The first outlet is sized and positioned toaccommodate lateral movement of the received banknote through the firstoutlet and the second outlet is sized and positioned to accommodatelongitudinal movement of a received banknote through the second outletand out of the processing junction, said drive arrangement includes aplurality of drive rollers in the processing junction for engaging areceived banknote and driving a received banknote out of the processingjunction through either the first or second outlets. Each drive rolleris rotatable about a first axis for driving of a banknote in a drivedirection as a function of rotation about said first axis and each driveroller is rotatable about a second axis for altering the drive directionbetween a first position driving a received banknote through the firstoutlet and in a second position driving a received banknote through thesecond outlet.

[0006] In an aspect of the invention, the processing junction includes athird outlet positioned and sized to accommodate lateral movement of areceived banknote through the third outlet.

[0007] In a further aspect of the invention, the drive arrangementincludes means for rotating the drive rollers in opposite directionsabout the first axis where rotation in one direction with said rollersin the second position moves a received banknote through the secondoutlet and rotation in the opposite direction moves a received banknotethrough the third outlet.

[0008] According to an aspect of the invention, the inlet and the firstoutlet are on opposite sides of the processing junction and the secondand third outlets are on opposite sides of the processing junction.

[0009] In a preferred aspect of the invention, the drive rollers arerotated about the second axis approximately 90□ during movement betweenthe first and second positions.

[0010] According to an aspect of the invention, the banknotes arereceived in the processing junction in a longitudinal direction and aredischarged from the processing junction in either the longitudinaldirection or a lateral direction.

[0011] According to an aspect of the invention, the drive rollers arespaced either side of a longitudinal axis of the processing junction.

[0012] In yet a further aspect of the invention, the drive rollersinclude at least four drive rollers with two of the drive rollerslocated to one side of said longitudinal axis and two of the driverollers located to the opposite side of the longitudinal axis.

[0013] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, each drive roller hasan associated spring biased member for receiving a banknote therebetweenand accommodating movement of the associated drive roller between thefirst and second positions.

[0014] Preferably, the drive rollers are driven by a common motor.

[0015] In an aspect of the invention, the common motor and the driverollers are connected by a drive bar linkage.

[0016] In an aspect of the invention, two banknote accumulators arepositioned on opposite sides of the processing junction and laterallyreceive banknotes from the second and third outlets.

[0017] Preferably, the processing junction can receive and redirectbanknotes previously stored on one of the banknote accumulators.

[0018] In yet a further aspect of the invention, each banknoteaccumulator laterally winds the received banknotes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings,wherein:

[0020]FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view showing the generalcomponents of the device and the possible processing paths for acceptedpaper currency;

[0021]FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view showing the paper currencydispensing units and currency separating tapes thereof;

[0022]FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view illustrating various componentsof the system;

[0023]FIGS. 3a, 3 b and 3 c are illustrative views of an accumulatingand dispensing arrangement;

[0024]FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view showing the separating tapeswound on the drum and in position to receive an accepted banknotetherebetween;

[0025]FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4 showing a banknote beingreceived and about to be processed between two tapes;

[0026]FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view showing a drive arrangement forthe drive rollers of the device;

[0027]FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view showing one of the drive rollarrangements;

[0028]FIG. 8 shows the drive roll arrangements of the processingjunction arranged for longitudinal movement of a received banknote;

[0029]FIG. 9 shows the drive rollers positioned for transverse orlateral movement within the processing junction; and

[0030]FIG. 10 is a top view of a modified arrangement.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0031] The bill processing device 1 of FIG. 1 includes a validator 2having an inlet 4 into which a bill 6 is to be inserted. The bill 6 isused in this application as representative of any paper currency,banknote or other form of payment involving the exchange of papersubstrates.

[0032] The validator 2 performs various tests on a received bill andassuming the bill is accepted, it passes the accepted bill 6 a to theprocessing junction 10. The processing junction 10 has a first billaccumulator 20 located to one side of the processing junction and asecond bill accumulator 22 located to the opposite side of theprocessing junction. If the accepted banknote 6 b, situated in theprocessing junction 10, is to be accumulated for later dispensing, itwill be moved laterally to either the first accumulator 20 or the secondaccumulator 22. Each accumulator typically accumulates bills of the samedenomination. For example, accumulator 20 could be dedicated toaccumulating $5 bills and accumulator 22 could be dedicated toaccumulating $1 bills. Thus, all the bills wound on one of theaccumulators will be of the same denomination. The validator haspreviously determined the denomination of the bill. Depending upon theparticular application, the denomination of the bills wound onto eachaccumulator will be different, although there may be applications whereboth accumulators store the same denomination. This would provideadditional capacity.

[0033] The processing junction 10 also provides a path for moving of abanknote in the direction of arrow 11 for receipt of the bill 6 c in thebill storage cassette 30. These bills are stacked within the banknotecassette and are not available for subsequent dispensing. The processingjunction 10, and in particular the accumulators 20 and 22, store billsfor later dispensing. Accumulated bills are dispensed by driving theaccumulators in the opposite direction and allowing dispensing of billsalong the path indicated by arrow 14. Bills to be dispensed areaccumulated in a stack and dispensed as a group 41 through a commonoutlet for stacked bills indicated as 40. This stack 41 of banknotes canbe bills from one accumulator or a mixture of bills from theaccumulators 20 and 22.

[0034] It should be noted with reference to FIG. 1, that the banknotesare accumulated with their longitudinal axis aligned with thelongitudinal axis of the cylinder on which they are rolled. Thisorientation of the banknotes allows more banknotes to be rolled onto thecylinder as each accumulated bill is not rolled in the longitudinaldirection. This also has the additional benefit of reducing the extentof the curl which is imparted to the banknote during its storage on thecylinder. The diameter of the accumulator continues to increase as morebills are stored, and there is a size limitation based on the physicalsize of the device. The lateral winding increases the number of billsthat can be stored. The tapes include markings such as a metal band thatis detected and used to generate a signal to stop any additional storageof bills on that accumulator. Any further bills are transported to thestorage cassette. The lateral storage of a bill on the accumulatorreduces the space required to store bills on a given diameter cylinderand is more efficient relative to longitudinal winding of the bills onthe same size cylinder.

[0035]FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 show details of the thin pliable film tapes thatare used to separate accumulated bills on the accumulating cylinders 24.Magnetic recording type tape can be used. These tapes 26 are positionedto contact the back face of the banknote and tapes 28 are positioned tocontact the front face of the banknote located between the banknote andthe accumulating cylinder 24. Thus, each banknote is located betweentapes 26 and 28. FIG. 2 also illustrates how the tapes arelongitudinally spaced in the length of the received banknote and in thelength of the longitudinal axis of the accumulating cylinder. The tapesare offset and non-overlapping and increase the thickness required tostore a banknote on the cylinder approximately a single thickness of thetape. With this arrangement, the two tapes ensure that banknotes areseparated one from the other and are serially wound and seriallydispensed from the accumulator 24.

[0036] In the drawing of FIG. 2, tapes 26 are wound onto the spools 27located on shaft 31. Tapes 28 are wound onto spools 29 attached to shaft33. The tapes of spools 27 and 29 are drawn by the accumulated cylinderas a banknote is wound onto the accumulator cylinder 24. The power fordrawing the tape is provided by the cylinder 24 and the spools providesome rotational resistance such that only sufficient tape is unwound asis necessary. In contrast, during dispensing of a banknote, these spools27 and 29 are over driven by the drive arrangement generally shown as 35and include a friction type clutch arrangement to allow for slippage.The overdriving of these spools assures that the tapes are wound ontothe spools 27 and 29 and any excess tape is accumulated. Each of thetapes 26 and 28 is physically attached to the accumulator cylinder 24and guides 37 are spring loaded at the back of the accumulating cylinder24 to maintain the general alignment of the tapes 26 and 28. The drivearrangement 35 also causes rotation of the drive wheels generally shownas 39 on shaft 31 and drive wheels 41 on shaft 33. These are attached tothe drive arrangement 35 and rotate with the rotation of the shafts 31and 33.

[0037] The processing junction 10 shown in FIG. 2 also includesrepositional drive rollers 50 which are positioned for advancing of abanknote along the longitudinal axis of the processing junction 10. Thedrive wheels 50 are opposite the spring loaded contact balls 52 on theopposite side of the processing junction 10. The repositional driverollers 50 are rotatable 90 degrees to allow driving of a banknotelaterally into the accumulator 20 or the accumulator 22. The one wayfinger levers 61 allow feeding of a banknote from the processingjunction into the respective accumulator and when the accumulator isrotated in the direction to dispense a stored banknote it causes thebanknote to follow a dispensing path 65. This aspect is more clearlyunderstood from a review of FIG. 3.

[0038]FIG. 3 shows a slightly different arrangement for accumulating ofthe tapes 26 and tapes 28. In this case, the spools 26 and 27 have beenrelocated and the tapes trained around rollers for the appropriatepositioning, either side of a banknote. The tape 28 of the left handaccumulator 20 is associated with the processing junction 10 to receivea banknote and move the banknote past the finger lever 61. The banknoteis driven by the drive wheels 50 and the banknote will have sufficientwidth to meet the additional drive wheel arrangement represented byrollers 57 and 59. As can be seen, the tape 28 is between theaccumulating cylinder 24 and a banknote and tape 26 is applied to theoutside of the banknote. Finger levers 61 are spring loaded and aremoved by the banknote to allow the banknote to pass by these levers asit is driven from the processing junction 10 to the accumulatingcylinder 24.

[0039] When the direction of the accumulating cylinder 24 is reversed, areceived and stored banknote on the accumulating cylinder 24 will beunwound from the cylinder and fed between driven wheels 57 and 59. Thetapes on the far side of wheels 57 and 59 separate from the banknote.The banknote is redirected by the curved section 63 of lever 61 to movethrough the slot 65 to the drive wheel 83 and the idler wheel 85. Guide81 directs the driven banknote to the accumulating arrangement 67.

[0040] The banknote is fed through the revolving guide 162 which islocated between the drive wheel 83 and the separate drive arrangement 69of the accumulating arrangement 67. The drive arrangement 69 has twowheels 169 with an endless belt 164 being trained about the wheels. Agap is defined between the plate 163 and the opposed surface of the belt164. This slot accumulates banknotes to be dispensed. Plate 163 isforced by spring 166 towards the drive arrangement 69. Idler wheels 165and 167 are placed opposite the drive wheels 169 of the drivearrangement 69.

[0041] The first banknote 180 shown in FIG. 3a has passed the drivewheel 83 and is now being driven by drive wheel 169 and belt 164 intothe accumulating arrangement 67. The trailing part of the banknote isstill partially received in the revolving guide 162. When the back edgeof the banknote appears in the middle of the revolving guide 162, thedrive wheel 83 and the drive arrangement 69 stop. The trailing portionof the banknote will still be partially received in the revolving guide162. The platform 163 is forced by spring 166 towards the drivearrangement 67. Idler wheels 165 and 167 are located opposite the drivewheels 169 of the drive arrangement 69. The advance of the banknote 180is stopped with the trailing edge of the banknote still partially in therevolving guide 162 as shown in FIG. 3a.

[0042] The revolving guide 162 is then rotated 180 degrees. FIG. 3bshows the revolving guide 162 partially rotated and the trailing edge ofthe banknote 180 has been stripped from the guide and is positioned toone side. The guide then assumes the position shown in FIG. 3c with thefirst banknote located in the gap between roller 167 and the revolvingguide 162. The next bill 182 can then be fed into the accumulatingarrangement 67 as shown in FIG. 3c. The back edge of bill 180 has beenpulled out of the way and therefore, bill 182 can slide over the face ofbill 180. Once this second banknote has been received, revolving guide162 is then rotated to force both of the trailing edges of banknotes 180and 182 to the one side of the guide.

[0043] In this way, a series of banknotes can be accumulated between theplate 163 and the belt 164. It can also be seen that there is a moveableshutter 161 closing the outlet slot 40. A solenoid 160 allows theshutter to move to a clear position whereby the banknotes can be fed outthrough the slot 40. The shutter effectively acts as a stop for all ofthe banknotes and allows the drive arrangement 69 to bring the nextbanknote into the accumulating arrangement 67. Once the required numberof banknotes are collected in the accumulated arrangement 67, solenoid160 moves the shutter 161 and opens the outlet 40. The drive arrangement69 is then activated and feeds the accumulated banknotes out of theaccumulating arrangement 67 as a group.

[0044] Each drive roller 50 of FIG. 3 includes a drive arrangement 100which have a crank arm 102 connected to a drive link 104 which is drivenby crank arm 106 of the drive motor 108. With this arrangement, thedrive rollers 50 are synchronized as they are commonly driven by thedrive arrangement. Each of the drive arrangements 100 are also rotatable90 degrees as generally shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. A separate link 110connects the drive arrangements 100 and is attached to the drivearrangements 100 by crank arms 112. Movement of the link 110 through anappropriate rotation causes the drive wheels 50 to rotate 90 degrees asshown in FIGS. 8 and 9. With this arrangement, the drive wheels 50 pivoton the contact balls 52 and a received banknote trapped between thesecomponents. Once the drive wheels 50 are rotated 90 degrees, the drivewheels 50 can be rotated in a first direction for accumulation inaccumulator 20 and in a second direction for accumulation in accumulator22. If the drive wheels are orientated in the direction as indicated inFIG. 3, the received banknote is driven into a stacker 30 located belowthe processing channel 10.

[0045] The link 104 shown in FIG. 7, is attached to the crank arm, 102which rotates shaft 120. A gear train 150 causes shaft 122 to rotatewith rotation of shaft 120. Shaft 122 rotates the bevel gear 124 incontact with the bevel gear 126 on shaft 128 of the drive roller 50.Each drive arrangement 100 can be rotated 90 degrees as indicated byarrow 60 controlled by appropriate movement of the link 110. Thismovement causes the drive arrangement 100 to move due to the interactionof the crank 112 with the link 110.

[0046] The motor 108, as shown in FIG. 6 via its crank arm 106 and link104 additionally rotates drive wheel 115 via the pin connection 117.Roller 121 moves as indication by arrow 123 from the drive positionshown to a non drive position. In the drive position, roller 121 isdriven by drive wheel 115 and in turn, drives wheel 125. Drive wheel 125is connected by pin 127 to link 110 and causes movement thereof. Wheel125 basically freely rotates on the shaft 118. With member 121 in a nondrive position, (not in contact with drive wheel 115), then link 110 isessentially fixed in position. When wheel 121 is in the drive position,link 110 can be driven to rotate the drive arrangements 100 about theirdrive shaft 120 and about the bearing generally indicated as 131 in theprocessing junction 10.

[0047] With this arrangement, each of the drive arrangements 100 drive adrive wheel 50 at a common rate and with a common position controlled bydrive linkages. These linkages are preferrably a parallelogram typelinkage, such that the four drive wheels 50 are driven by the commonmotor 108. Synchronization of the drive wheels is maintained due to thecommon motor and repositioning is easily accomplished for driving of thebanknote laterally into the accumulators and subsequently reversed forreceiving a banknote in the processing junction or moving a banknotethrough the junction to a stacking arrangement as described.

[0048]FIG. 10 shows a modification of a banknote stacker. In this case,three banknote accumulating devices have been mounted on a rotarycarousel for selective registration with an inlet 200. Banknotes to beaccumulated are passed through the inlet 200 to the individualaccumulators. In this case, there are three accumulators shown and assuch, three separate denominations can be accumulated. The accumulatingarrangement 67 a is off to one side and has its own inlet 210. With thisarrangement, the rotary carousel can be rotated for proper associationwith the inlet 200 or the inlet 210. With this arrangement, threedifferent denominations can be separately accumulated in the threedifferent accumulators and the dispensing of bills can be thecombination of any of the three stored denominations.

[0049] The validator of FIG. 1 also shows a slot 200 for receiving abankcard. In this case, the device can obtain bankcard authorization forpayment of goods associated with the device, or to receive cash from thedevice. It can also be appreciated that the validator could acceptbanknotes and credit the accepted banknotes to the bankcard.

[0050] Although various preferred embodiments of the present inventionhave been described herein in detail, it will be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art, that variations may be made thereto withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appendedclaims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:
 1. A device for validatingand accepting paper currency comprising a validator that evaluatesselected properties of the paper currency and determines whether thepaper currency should be accepted or rejected and ejects the papercurrency from the validator if the paper currency is rejected, aprocessing junction into which an accepted paper currency is fed, saidprocessing junction including at least three processing paths includinga first and second paths for accumulating paper currency for laterdispensing of the paper currency and a third path for storage ofaccepted paper currency, and a drive arrangement associated with saidprocessing junction for selectively driving an accepted paper currencyalong any of said paths.
 2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein saidprocessing junction longitudinally receives accepted paper currency andsaid first and second paths for accumulating paper currency move saidpaper currency in a direction transverse to the longitudinal directionof accepted paper currency.
 3. A device as claimed in claim 2 whereinsaid third path moves said currency in a direction parallel to thelongitudinal direction of the accepted paper currency and stores thecurrency in a removable stacking arrangement.
 4. A device as claimed inclaim 3 wherein said first dispensing path is located on a side of saidprocessing junction opposite an inlet path to said processing junction.5. A device as claimed in claim 1 including an accumulator anddispensing unit associated with each of said first and second paths andsaid accumulator and dispensing units having a common dispensing outletthrough which accumulated paper currency can be dispensed.
 6. A deviceas claimed in claim 5 wherein said common dispensing outlet accumulatesbills to be dispensed and dispenses accumulated bills as a stack ofbills.
 7. A device as claimed in claim 5 wherein said processingjunction includes a drive arrangement which is movable for selectivedispensing along any of said three paths.
 8. A device as claimed inclaim 7 wherein said drive arrangement includes drive rollers on eitherside of a longitudinal centerline of processing junction which arerotatable from a first orientation for moving a bill longitudinally insaid junction to a second orientation for moving said bill transverselyin said junction along either of said first and said second paths.
 9. Adevice as claimed in claim 5 wherein each dispensing arrangementserially receives said paper currency and winds said paper currencytraversely onto a cylinder drum and each drum includes flexibleseparating tapes located either side of a received paper currency withsaid tapes also being wound on said respective drum.
 10. A device asclaimed in claim 9 wherein said tapes are spaced on said respective drumto be non overlapping with adjacent tapes.
 11. A winding device forstoring banknotes and dispensing of previously stored banknotescomprising a driven winding drum adapted for rotation in a firstdirection to wind received banknotes on said drum and rotatable in theopposite direction for dispensing of a previously stored banknote, atleast two separating tapes applied to opposite sides of stored banknoteswith each tape being attached to said winding drum for windingtherewith, a winding spool for each tape with a drive arrangementassociated with said winding spools for driving said spools and windingsaid respective tape thereon during rotation of said winding drum insaid direction to dispense a previously stored banknote, a drivearrangement for transporting a banknote to or away from said windingdrum, and a tape guide for each tape to apply said tapes to oppositesides of a received banknote and to strip a received banknote from saidwinding drum during dispensing of the received banknote.
 12. A windingdevice as claimed in claim 11 wherein each tape is a thin pliablesubstrate member.
 13. A winding device as claimed in claim 11 whereinsaid tapes are offset one from the other in direction of an axis ofrotation of said winding drum.
 14. A winding device as claimed in claim13 wherein said tapes are non overlapping.
 15. A winding device asclaimed in claim 11 wherein said banknote drive arrangement transportsbanknotes in a lateral direction and banknotes are laterally wound onsaid winding drum.
 16. A winding device as claimed in claim 15 whereinat least three tapes are applied to each side of a received banknote andsaid tapes are non overlapping.
 17. A winding device as claimed in claim16 wherein the driven winding drum during dispensing of a banknotepowers said drive arrangement of said winding spools.
 18. A winding drumas claimed in claim 17 wherein each tape is of a width less than oneinch.
 19. A winding arrangement as claimed in claim 17 wherein saiddrive arrangement of said winding spools is an overdrive arrangement andsaid spools include a clutch arrangement for allowing necessary slippagedue to said overdrive arrangement.
 20. A winding arrangement as claimedin claim 16 wherein each tape includes a guide reel spaced from saidwinding drum for guiding said tapes onto or off of said winding drum,said guide reels being positioned to apply said tapes to a first side ofa banknote about to be received on said winding drum and subsequentlyapply said tapes to the opposite side of the about to be receivedbanknote and said tapes serve to strip received banknotes from saidwinding drum during dispensing of a banknote.
 21. A device for storingpaper currency comprising a processing junction into which an acceptedpaper currency is fed by a fed drive arrangement, said processingjunction including at least three processing paths including a first andsecond paths for accumulating paper currency for later dispensing of thepaper currency and a third path for storage of accepted paper currency,and a drive arrangement associated with said processing junction forselectively driving an accepted paper currency along any of said paths.22. A device as claimed in claim 21 wherein said processing junctionlongitudinally receives accepted paper currency and said first andsecond paths for accumulating paper currency move said paper currency ina direction transverse to the longitudinal direction of accepted papercurrency.
 23. A device as claimed in claim 22 wherein said third pathmoves said currency in a direction parallel to the longitudinaldirection of the accepted paper currency and stores the currency in aremovable stacking cassette.
 24. A device as claimed in claim 23 whereineach of said first and second paths include a winding device for storingpaper currency and dispensing of previously stored paper currency; eachwinding device comprising a driven winding drum adapted for rotation ina first direction to wind received paper currency on said drum androtatable in the opposite direction for dispensing of a previouslystored paper currency through a dispensing outlet, at least twoseparating tapes applied to opposite sides of stored paper currency witheach tape being attached to said winding drum for winding therewith, awinding spool for each tape with a drive arrangement associated withsaid winding spools for driving said spools and winding said respectivetape thereon during rotation of said winding drum in said direction todispense a previously stored paper currency, a drive arrangement fortransporting paper currency to or away from said winding drum, and atape guide for each tape to apply said tapes to opposite sides of areceived paper currency and to strip a received paper currency from saidwinding drum during dispensing of previously received paper currency.25. A device as claimed in claim 24 including a paper currency validatorfor receiving and authenticating paper currency and said fed drive isassociated with said validator and feeds authenticated paper currency tosaid processing junction.
 26. A device as claimed in claim in claim 21wherein said drive arrangement of said processing junction includes atleast two drive wheels spaced either side of a longitudinal axis of saidjunction, said drive wheels being movable for moving paper currencyreceived in said junction along any of said three paths.
 27. A device asclaimed in claim 21 wherein said drive arrangement of said processingjunction includes a first pair of drive wheels spaced either side of alongitudinal axis of said junction and to one side of a lateral axis ofsaid junction and a second pair of drive wheels spaced either side ofsaid longitudinal axis and to a side of said lateral axis opposite tothe first pair of drive wheels, said drive wheels being movable fordriving paper currency received in said junction along any of said threepaths by appropriate rotation of said drive wheels.
 28. A device asclaimed in claim 21 including a paper currency storage and dispensingarrangement associated with said first and second paths, said papercurrency storage and dispensing arrangement comprising at least fourwinding devices selectively movable for cooperation with said first andsecond paths, whereby each path can cooperate to store received papercurrency in at least two winding devices.
 29. A device as claimed inclaim 28 including a card reader and processing arrangement forauthorizing payment of goods associated with said device or receivingcredit for banknotes received by said device.